


Who Cared So Much

by leviathanchronicles



Series: Spenlex Stuff [1]
Category: Criminal Minds, Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Based off rps, Crossover Pairings, F/M, Gift Fic, Murderers, Series Appropriate Violence, it's an au where Lexie is in the BAU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-10-10 06:29:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10431159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leviathanchronicles/pseuds/leviathanchronicles
Summary: There are reasons why working with the most important person in your life is a great thing.There are reasons why working with the most important person in your life is the worst thing you can do.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lexiesdilemmas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lexiesdilemmas/gifts).



> Whoo boy. This ship is the product of loving discussions with patchworked, one of the best people I've ever met, and it's honestly the best crossover ship I've had the pleasure of being involved in.  
> We've discussed an au with Lexie joining the BAU a few times -- I took liberties on a couple things we haven't discussed, so a lot of this is very shaky tbh. Anyways, Lexie is pretty difficult to write; I based a lot of it off how Andie writes her, because Andie's more or less got the market on writing Lexie. That said, I'm ... sorry. xoxo <3

Alexandra Grey starts work at the BAU two years after Spencer Reid does. He expects her arrival to help with the end of the ‘kid’ jokes (they’re practically the same age), but if anything, they only become multiplied with two people to address them to.

He greets her with a tight smile, a nod, and no handshake, despite the one she’s offered. He has no intention to be rude (touching people comes with a certain amount of social graces he hasn’t found to be necessary), but the way she hesitates before moving on to other members of the team makes him wonder if he was.

The two have no significant interaction after that; they work together, and they pitch ideas, but past that, they are barely markers on each other’s life.

A few months after starting, Lexie brings a folder of files to the conference room for Reid to review. She hands him the files with a nearly palpable sense of anxiety, and she turns away to search for a clock (or, rather, for an excuse to avoid showing her fear). Voice only as clear as she can keep it, she takes a step towards the door and speaks. “I’ll, ah, give you a bit to look over those, I know it’s a lot.”

Before she’s left the room, he’s spun in his chair to face her, the folder closed again. “Done.”

Her eyebrows furrowed, she lets out a nervous laugh (a few months isn’t long enough to get used to his innocent arrogance) and returns to sit beside him. She waits for him to set the folder down before opening it, her hand sliding past each statement before settling on the most notable one. “Did you see how all three of them were working in -- in auditing? Different companies, different jobs, even, but … it’s a connection.”

For every idea one pitches, the other responds in easy cadence, a fact neither had noticed before (one tends to respond easily to anything work-related, the other tends to think too much for anything to be defined as easy). An hour into their discussion, it becomes obvious that they could do this all night; three hours into their discussion, it becomes obvious that the lack of concrete grounds will require them to do this all night.

Reid is the one to recognize the time and click his tongue in acknowledgement. As calmly as before (because he has no reason to be nervous, not for work-related discussions), he reaches over to gather up the files. “You wanna grab something to eat? I never took lunch.”

They end up in a tiny diner (the only place open), still dressed in work clothes as they push sticky menus and ketchup bottles to the side. For the first few minutes, the conversation regards only the jobs they were meant to be taking a break from, but then Reid makes a stiff joke about remembering everything, and Lexie responds with a quip of her own, and by the time their food comes, they’re discussing the safest parts of their lives and then some.

The next time they eat together, it’s at a much fancier restaurant, and Reid pulls her chair out for her, and they don’t mention work at all.The teasing is increased tenfold with the announcement of their relationship, but Reid finds it more endearing than condescending. Every time a comment is made, he leans back to crinkle his nose at Lexie; her responding smile is more than enough to make any joke seem worth it.

Their careers don’t exactly make their relationship a walk in the park; Reid’s jaw tightens every time Lexie goes into a dangerous situation, and she squeezes his hand a bit too much in the moments before every confrontation. It never gets in the way -- there’s more at stake than just themselves, and they are able to see that clearly -- but it does leave them with more than a small amount of fear every time a new case arises.

Three years after the relationship began, the two have grown used to the rhythm of life; half of their dates are interrupted by phone calls, and they’ve yet to stay the night at each other’s houses without having to address work matters. As such, the two have also found small ways of expressing their affections. Reid arrives at work to find a cup of coffee on his desk (there’s never enough sugar, but it’s getting there), and Lexie finds hastily scrawled notes taped to her computer (he writes them in the thirty seconds that she isn’t by her desk, so it isn’t like he has much time for calligraphy).

Unfortunately, the rhythm of life has a habit of changing every so often. Reid’s aware of this; he makes an effort to change it himself the day he buys a ring -- he’d researched the absolute best way to say what he wanted to say through an engagement ring, even knowing that no one would notice the infinitesimal meanings that he tried to represent.  
A couple members of the team knows he intends to propose as soon as they return from a case; Maine is a lovely state, but it’s no place to propose, especially when they’re there to handle a spree killer. Those members throw in so many jokes about it that Reid is certain it’s been exposed; if Lexie has any idea, she doesn’t say a word.

Here’s how the events are supposed to occurr: they finish the case and return home, he cleans up his apartment and invites her over, he offers some nervous but genuine speech about her affection for her, and she (hopefully) says yes. The two have a summer wedding; their lives only become happier from there on out.

Here’s how the events actually occur: The case is more difficult than they’d predicted. By the time they determine the identity of the killer, the next victim is minutes away from death, and they have to race against time. As rushed as they are, they get sloppy. It’s no one’s fault, not really, but when Reid’s gun is pulled away from him and pointed at Lexie, they both blame themselves.

The rest of the team runs in minutes after the gun is fired, once, twice, and then again -- there are no witnesses to the murders except the killer, who no longer cares about being caught.

The memorials are quiet affairs, despite being those of FBI agents -- the team thinks that’s what they would’ve wanted.

The rings are never worn; they’re buried with the bodies in velvet boxes and soft shades.


End file.
